Attempts have been made to provide apparatus that will facilitate opening and closing of the hopper car door. In the past, this task has been accomplished manually by an operator turning the shaft of the hopper car door with a wrench. This procedure is simple but difficult because of the weight of the hopper car door. Thus it is not very desirable.
Power wrenchs and other powerized equipment have also been employed. One arrangement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,760. This arrangement requires that the existing shaft arrangement of the hopper car be adapted to include a turning means having a series of gears and other mechanical parts. This means having a myriad of gears and other parts can then be activated by a motor to open and close the hopper car door. U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,165 discloses another apparatus for opening and closing the hopper car door. This arrangement in addition to numerous other mechanical parts includes a member having two portions pivotably coupled to each other and a third portion for engaging a hopper car door opening member to open the door.